When Worlds Collide
by Shadowgeist1204
Summary: Since when are people sealed inside Beyblades? When a large group of people start getting blown out of misbehaving Beys, Gingka and the crew have a lot of new friends to make, find, and - in some cases - rescue. These people use cards and special powers and gadgets instead of tops to fight, and everyone from a place called "Heartland City" will need to be reunited to get home.
1. Chapter 1

Gingka and Yuki were ready to battle in Beyblade Stadium. Almost the entire group was spectating, even Dynamis and the other Legendary Bladers, except for Ryuga.

"Are you ready, Gingka?" Yuki asked, bey launcher at the ready. "This is your last chance to back down after my challenge."

"You betcha!" the Pegasus blader yelled back in reply. "I'd never turn down a challenge!"

"Three!..." everyone shouted in unison. "Two!... One!"

"Let it rip!" the bladers hollered, sending their beyblades flying into the stadium. The tops spun around the carved semicircle, as if waiting for an opening. But something didn't seem right: neither of the beys were listening to their owners. Madoka opened her handheld computer and looked into it. Kenta looked up and noticed her worried face.

"What's going on, Madoka?" the green-haired boy asked. "Pegasus and Anubius aren't acting right. Is something wrong with them?"

"According to my scans, nothing's wrong with either of them," the mechanic answered. "But it may not be a physical problem we're dealing with here." She couldn't say anything more, as something happened that stunned everybody speechless. Two unfamiliar screams of pain erupted out of the blue, one male and one female. Dynamis stiffened, eyes locking on the beys.

"There is something strange locked away inside the beyblades," he intoned. "They ache to be free from their prisons, and are beginning to react and possess their spinning cages." Everyone watched carefully, listening to Dynamis' words. Without warning, the misbehaving beyblades charged at each other at headlong speed. They met in the center with a brilliant light that nearly blinded all the spectators. The agonized screams sounded off once more as two forms exploded from the flash, crashing into the surrounding walls of the stadium.

The light soon faded, revealing that the two beyblades stopped spinning in the center of the stadium. Both the bladers and the spectators gasped in shock at what happened. Tsubasa looked towards the outer walls, eyes widening at what he saw: a bespectacled boy with spiked, gray hair. On the opposite end of the wall, Dynamis could spot a girl with extremely long hair that formed a thick, black veil behind her, bangs covering her eyes. Both looked nearly unconscious and were slumped against the wall, appearing to be beaten up.

"Where did those two come from?" Hikaru asked no one in particular.

"Let's worry about the questions later," Gingka's father spoke up. "For now, the battle is a draw. Those two strangers up at the walls need help. Let's get down there to see if they're all right." Everyone nodded and split up to check on the strangers.

"Hey," Gingka whispered to the gray-haired boy. "You okay? Can you say something?" The strange male slowly opened his steel-gray eyes. His hazy orbs looked towards the girl on the other side of the stadium.

"S-Star..." he rasped softly. He appeared to be fighting to keep his eyes open. His eyes dropped shut and his head slumped as his consciousness left him. Tsubasa carefully picked up the boy's wrist and felt for his pulse.

"He's alive," the Eagle blader confirmed. "But he's obviously badly hurt and exhausted." Those on the other side with the girl seemed to have similar luck.

"Are you alright, miss?" Yuki asked. "Are you able to talk?" Like the boy, the girl's eyes opened, but they were deep indigo irises framed in lavender. She looked to the boy, past the group around her.

"Du...mon..." she whispered. Within seconds, she too lost the battle for her consciousness. Hikaru was able to feel her pulse beating, but she was also clearly injured and spent. Dynamis slung the girl's thin, rod-like arm around his shoulders, wrapping his own arm around her back. Tsubasa was able to do the same for the boy, who was shorter than the girl. Dynamis could feel strange grooves in the female's back, and sensed power coming from her; he remained silent towards the matter, intending to ask another time.

"Let's get these two to a hospital," Ryo commanded. "They definitely need help, and -" a bright glow emanating from the strangers interrupted the director. Translucent forms of a dark purple serpent dragon and a gold, winged archer appeared near the unconscious teens.

 _ **My duelist cannot go to a hospital,**_ the female dragon hissed. _ **Hers is a prejudiced race. I won't allow you to risk Star's life in a strange city. For all we know, there are people who'd do away with her if they knew what she is.**_

 _ **Mine can't be in a hospital either,**_ the male archer added. ** _Dumon, at one point in time, was not of this world. If you risk his life in a human hospital, he might be experimented on; Yinlong's duelist may even suffer the same fate._**

"It's clear that you both care deeply about your masters," Dynamis observed, earning a nod from both spirits. "If a hospital poses such a threat, and as these two likely only need rest and tending to any wounds, we can take care of them in secret, for their safety as well as your own." The dragoness and the archer agreed to the terms of the former temple caretaker, disappearing into thin air.

"There's definitely something different about these two," Tsubasa mused, turning to look at the boy he was supporting. "And if there are more that are like them, and that they'll maybe even know, than we'll have to bring them to safety as soon as we hear about them."


	2. Chapter 2

Mr. Hagane put his son and his friends in charge of the unconscious strangers. They placed the two of them in a vacant apartment building that had been abandoned for about a year, but was still in surprisingly good condition. The girl and boy were placed in two of the building's rooms, and the doors of said rooms had pieces of paper taped onto them so they could be seen.

Secretly, Dynamis would keep an exceptionally close eye on the girl. Something about the grooves he felt in her back didn't feel natural. Every now and then, he would roll back the sleeve of her shirt, finding thousands of overlapping slash marks on each arm. When he moved her bangs aside, he saw another deep slash directly between her eyes. The visible arc on the left side of her neck and shoulder didn't make him any less wary.

 _ **I can see that my duelist's past draws a fair amount of your interest,**_ the female dragon observed one evening as the visitor sat at the girl's bedside.

"Indeed it does," the temple-keeper confirmed as he met the spirit's silver orbs, "if it is her past that gave her the scars she bears. The archer said your name is Yinlong, correct?"

 _ **Yes, but you can call me Yin; the "archer" of whom you speak is Star Seraph Sentry, called Sentry for short.**_ Dynamis nodded once in understanding.

"Do tell, how did your duelist come to obtain such frightening marks?" The dragoness flicked her black tongue, lowering her head.

 _ **At one point in time, Star couldn't have had better parents to raise her. They kept her safe from evil ones in her early home, despite the traumatizing hatred of her people that stretched afar and abroad. But when a tragic incident happened to her parents, their souls were lost; they became horrible, soulless beings called Dead-Hearts. They abused her for the following eight years until a duel spirit brought her back to her early home: Heartland City.**_

"She likely never fully recovered from such an ordeal," presumed the boy. "Even now, there is something left behind of those times."

 _ **Scars, physical and mental alike,**_ the duel spirit completed. _ **I could tell you more, but I will already get enough of a lecture from Star for telling you that much. She may or may not give you the details, it depends on whether you can earn her trust; which, mind you, is no easy task.**_

"I understand," Dynamis nodded, standing up and turning to leave. "I will come back tomorrow after checking in with my friends about your duelist, and her friend in the neighboring room."

* * *

" **What's this?!** " Mr. Hagane roared. " **How is this happening?!** "

"Director, please," Hikaru soothed. "You're only going to wake up the whole city if you raise your voice like that this early in the morning."

"Too late for me," Gingka yawned as he entered the room. "Is something wrong, Dad?"

"Sorry to wake you up, Gingka," Ryo apologized. "But something is definitely wrong. Remember the incident between you and Yuki three days ago?"

"Yeah, why?" the Pegasus blader inquired, rubbing his eyes.

"Well, it seems that there are many more like that incident. In fact, according to reports we've been getting since last night, it's been happening all over the world. We even got a report from the members of rivaling teams from the Beyblade World Championship." That got Gingka's attention faster than a triple-beefburger. If former rivals from around the world are having people pop out of beys, it's bound to be something pretty serious.

"I'll get the others!" he called as he prepared to make a dash for the door. The second before he was going to turn, he saw two people walking toward them, one shorter than the other. The moment they stepped out of the shadows of the dimly lit hallway, Gingka, his father, and Hikaru instantly recognized them. The girl, clad in dark clothes that covered every part of her but her hands and face, walked alongside the bespectacled male. The female's eyes gleamed under the mask of shadow her bangs made over her eyes, the way the boy's glasses reflected the light on his stormy-gray orbs.

"It seems that it's not only us in this strange place, Dumon," the girl mused, looking up at the screen that displayed the reports Mr. Hagane was receiving.

"That does seem to be the case, Star," the boy replied, "but exactly how many is the question."

* * *

"What's taking Benkei and Kyoya?" wondered Kenta as the rest of the group waited. The strangers, now known as Star and Dumon, were waiting with them, with Star staring intensely out the window. The girl sat on a couch right next to a window; her arms were on the windowsill, where she was resting her head as she stared outside.

"Beats me, Kenta," Madoka shrugged before turning to the gray-haired boy and black-haired girl. "But what I want to know is what you two were doing in Gingka and Yuki's beyblades."

"We have no idea of that ourselves, miss," Dumon replied. "The last thing either of us can remember is preparing to help a friend who lived... quite a ways away from our home in Heartland City. Us somehow getting separated and put into these tops you call beyblades, everything that must've happened to all of you..." He trailed off.

"It's an enormous blank in both of our memories," Star finished, not tearing her soul-deep gaze from the window. "I suppose Dumon ended up in this Pegasus beyblade because of his connections to the mythical winged horse. I must've ended up in that Anubius beyblade because of my position as the Ghost Queen." She suddenly jerked upwards. "And three of our friends are starting to surface."

"Where are they? Who are they?" Dumon asked quickly, growing tense.

"I can feel one near the far corners of the city; two more are closer to the center. Dumon, you go help the two, I'll find the other one." The male nodded and both of them swiftly got up and left. Dumon rushed out the door, while Star ran up to the roof for some reason.

"Who were they talking about?" Yu asked, cocking his head.

"No idea," Gingka replied, "but we should still help 'em, just in case something happens."

"Yu, Gingka, come with me," Tsubasa ordered. "We'll help Dumon with the duo Star was talking about." The boys in question nodded determinedly and followed Tsubasa out the door.

"Yuki and Kenta, we'll follow Star," Dynamis commanded in turn. They remaining boys stood, and followed Dynamis outside to follow the raven-haired female.


	3. Chapter 3

Tsubasa, Yu, and Gingka followed Dumon as he dashed through the streets. The bracelet he wore would glow dimmer or brighter with every turn he took. He seemed to prefer when the light was brighter coming off the red crystal of the bracelet. The strange light confused the boys as they followed a ways behind the male.

"Where are you going?!" Gingka shouted to the boy.

"To find those missing friends Star was talking about," Dumon answered as he glanced back. "If my crystal's glow is any sign, we're getting pretty close." Tsubasa was confused by what the gray-haired boy said, but didn't question it. Dumon and Star's very _existence_ was far too confusing for words.

"Bu-bu-bu-bull! Where in the world did these two come from?!" Benkei's voice shouted. "One minute our beys are flying at each other, the next we have two more kids to blow out of them!"

"Just keep going," Kyoya's voice groaned. "Maybe they're with the two that came out of Pegasus and Anubius." Dumon seemed to pick up the pace towards the voices, the bracelet glowing ever brighter; the boys following him did the same. They met up with the owners of the voices, along with two boys that they were carrying. One of them had tan skin and dark brown hair that covered one of his eyes; he was about Kyoya's height. The other was around Benkei's size and also had tanned skin; he had a sort of spiked green mohawk. Dumon gasped, clearly recognizing them.

"Girag, Alito," he breathed, running up to them, taking Alito's limp form from Kyoya's shoulders. "I can take Alito, but Girag's way too big for any of us besides you, um..."

"Name's Benkei," the Bull blader grinned, despite having Girag leaning on his shoulders. "I can handle carrying this guy."

"So you've finally woken up," Kyoya scoffed. "Did that other girl wake up, too? I'm tired of having you people make our beys misbehave, and then pop out of them."

"Don't expect us to get too comfortable around you," Dumon glared back. "As for your beyblades, we never asked to be sealed inside magic spinning tops. But, we can save the argument for after we bring these two to safety."

* * *

Dynamis, Kenta, and Yuki followed on the ground as Star leaped from rooftop to rooftop. She was surprisingly fast, and that gave the boys following her some difficulty. Cats started running past them more and more often the more they followed the girl. A certain memory taunted Yuki, but he and the other boys pressed on.

"Why are you following me down there?" Star called down to them. "If you took the high path like me, you wouldn't be so slow!"

"We're not as fast as you are," Yuki panted. "Nor are we as agile." The girl just rolled her eyes and sped up.

 _Who is she after?_ Dynamis asked himself. _Who was she even talking about?_ He was too focused on keeping up with the female to ask her those questions. Once she stopped on a roof, the three boys pursuing her used a ladder of a nearby building to reach her.

"Meow. I see you know this girl who suddenly came out of my Lynx," a voice purred, causing Yuki's blood to run cold. He knew the voice of the feline-fanatic blader that assaulted him when he first met Gingka and the gang. His suspicions were correct as they reached the roof, seeing Johannes as Star stared him down with powerful authority. At Johannes' feet was another girl, whose gray hair was styled like cat ears; her hairstyle and glasses made her look much like Dumon.

"Yes, quite well in fact. Hand over my friend, and you can go free like the wildcat you are," Star offered in a chilling tone. "Is that a deal?"

"Hmm, whatever. You can have the girl," the Lynx blader decided. "My bey was having issues before she came out, anyway." He seemingly vanished into thin air, and Star walked over to the unconscious girl.

"At least your okay, Cathy," she whispered, lifting the gray-haired girl to her shoulders. A dark, swirling portal appeared in front of Star as she turned back to the boys. "I'll be at the building where you left me and Dumon," she notified before both she and the cat-like girl vanished into the portal.

* * *

"So there are even more people like the ones who came out of our beys?" Kyoya inquired to Gingka's father.

"That appears to be the case," Ryo confirmed. "And it seem that the first two to come out, Star and Dumon, happen to know all these people that have been reported to have exploded from beyblades."

"But how exactly did they get into our beys in the first place?" Tsubasa asked. "I'm pretty sure Johannes and Benkei aren't Legendary Bladers, so it couldn't be the Star Fragments." The door opened as Star and Dumon entered the room.

"Cathy, Girag and Alito are alright now, but still unconscious," Dumon reported. "All we can do is find anyone else who's coming up while we wait."

"Sounds like you two are anxious to find your friends," Mr. Hagane observed. "I've already sent out a report to bring any and all people who exploded from a misbehaving beyblade as soon as they're in good enough condition to travel. WBBA helicopters will bring them here so you all can be in the same place."

"Good idea," Star nodded. "If any old enemies are out there somewhere, we'll need to know where they are so they don't bring Armageddon in a strange world that knows next-to-nothing about what they can pull off." She suddenly tensed again. "Three more are surfacing, and this time all in the same place."

"Can you make out their decks?" Dumon inquired. Star closed her eyes to concentrate.

"I can make out... Chronomaly... Gimmick Puppet, and..." Her eyes flew open, glowing through her black fringe. "... Space," she breathed. She instantly spun around and dashed out the door.

"Star, wait up!" Dumon yelled as he and the other teens ran after her.

Star rushed through the streets with the amazing speed and agility that she acquired from her personal dark times. The others found it difficult to keep up with her as she dashed through streets and back alleys. By the time she came to a temporary stop, the others found her at the old Dark Nebula headquarters. Within a few seconds of them catching up with her, Star took off inside the building, striking up yet another chase for the other teams. She weaved through the abandoned building's corridors with precise accuracy, stopping at the room where the failed bladers were thrown; where Yu once was. She walked inside, and the others looked in to see her with three boys, all in medieval-style clothing.

The youngest was dressed in bright red, and had pinkish hair; on his wrist was a cuff that had a pinkish-red jewel inside. The middle brother's clothes were cream-colored, and the jewel of his cuff was purple; he had tawny-yellow and maroon hair, as well as a cross-like scar on his face. The eldest wore deep blue, and his hair was long and silver; the jewel of his cuff was sky blue, and he seemed opposite, yet identical to Star.

"Whoever had them in their beys must've thrown them in here and ran off," Star guessed, lifting the oldest boy and slinging his arm over her shoulders. "But that can wait. For now, let's get these guys to the apartment building."


	4. Chapter 4

Star seemed very concerned about the three boys found in the Dark Nebula building, especially the eldest of them. When Mr. Hagane arrived in an SUV to transport the brothers, Star stayed with the unconscious silverette, cradling his head in her lap. One of her hands held one of the male's, resting upon his chest. The other was at the top of his head, brushing at his pale lavender and mint green fringes. Dynamis watched sadly as the vehicle left. Dumon seemed to notice Dynamis' attitude, walking up to him.

"Those three were Trey, Quattro, and Quinton; the Arclight brothers," he explained. "Quinton's the oldest of them, and holds a very special bond with Star. For a long time, they only had each other as real friends. They were very lonely during the fifteen years they were apart, and they don't want to - they _can't_ \- lose each other again."

"It appears to me as if they value each other as more than best friends," the Jupiter blader commented. "Star's eyes are like cold, hard crystals, yet they only soften towards the one you call 'Quinton'. It's as if his presence and his alone can bring out Star's true nature, which she otherwise hides." Dumon nodded, knowing exactly what Dynamis was able to see in the two, whom all their friends back home call soulmates.

"Hey, you two," Tsubasa called, getting their attention. Everyone else was heading back, and Tsubasa was waiting for them. "Are you coming back or what?"

"We're coming," Dynamis called back. He turned to look at Dumon. "We can talk more tomorrow. With luck, Yin might give us a few pointers." The gray-eyed male nodded in agreement as the two of them joined Tsubasa and the others.

* * *

Dumon was back at the WBBA building, watching the screen for any reports alongside Mr. Hagane. He was anxious to know when those of his friends that were found would come join him, along with his Phantom friend, little sister figure, former comrades, and former colleagues.

"You must worry a lot about your other friends," Ryo mused, looking at the gray-haired boy. "I can see it in you. Trust me; I've seen it many times in my son and his friends."

"You mean that Gingka boy whose beyblade I was sealed in?" Dumon assumed. Ryo nodded.

"That's him alright. Don't you have someone in your group like him?"

"You could say that. When it comes to someone I know who's like Gingka, the first two that come to mind are Alito - who is still recovering - and Yuma."

"And who would Yuma be?"

"You could say he was the one who brought us all together. It's a long story, but Yuma is a good friend to all of us, especially Alito, Girag, and Trey - Trey's the youngest of the three brothers that were found a few hours ago." The monitor sounded off, indicating a video-message. Ryo went up to the computer and answered whoever was calling. The screen displayed a ginger-haired man and a woman with pale-blue hair.

"Sophie, Wales," Ryo addressed. "What brings you to call us."

 _"Mr. Hagane,"_ the ginger began, _"the fraternal twins that came out of our White and Blue Cetus beys last night are awake and will be ready to come to your location tomorrow."_

 _"However, they keep saying something about a star,"_ the woman added. _"They also seem to talk about other people. Unfortunately our every attempt to speak with them ends with the same result: the two of them give us a look of mistrust and walk away."_

"Only two people I know would ever act like that," Dumon realized. "You must be speaking of Rio and Reginald 'Shark' Kastle. My name is Dumon, a good friend of theirs; neither of them are all that trusting, truth be told. And it isn't _a_ star that they're talking about, miss; they're talking about a person we know _named_ Star." The two on the screen looked down at Dumon.

 _"That seems to make a lot more sense,"_ Wales contemplated. _"And it's good that you know the two of them, along with what they're talking about and the reason for their behavior."_ Dumon nodded in understanding as they signed off. Star soon walked into the room, looking at Dumon and Mr. Hagane.

"Sounds to me like Shark and Rio will be coming in the morning," she mused. "Just our luck; if Shark's still holding a grudge against Quattro, it won't be long before sparks start flying again." She turned back to the door. "It's getting kinda late, so we should probably turn in for the night." Dumon agreed and started to follow her.

"One other thing," the director added. "While you were off finding those three boys at the Dark Nebula building, we got a message of four other people arriving in a few days. I wrote down their names so I wouldn't forget." He pulled out a small piece of paper. "Their names are Heartland, Scritch, Erazor, and Chironex." Dumon and Star instantly froze.

"Did you just say what I think you said?" Star asked, slowly turning around. "Because if you did, then we might have a little more trouble on our hands than we thought."

"What do you mean?" the man asked.

"You just said the names of the Fearsome Four," Dumon answered. "They've annoyed just about all of us in the past, and they should've been gone forever."

"We should know," Star added. "We saw each one of those pests disappear."

"Now hold on," Mr. Hagane halted. "What exactly are these 'Fearsome Four' even capable of?"

"Nothing but trouble," Star sighed deeply, "and lots of it. Chironex already killed the parents of the Kastle twins at least ten years ago, and tried again with the twins themselves with jellyfish toxins. Brutal underground duelist Erazor can completely wipe out a person's memory if he beats them in a duel - or if they don't duel to begin with - leaving them catatonic. Scritch uses hallucinogenic poison to turn people against their friends, and is a very strategic thief and saboteur. Finally, Mr. Heartland - the two-faced son-of-a-demon ex-mayor of Heartland City - has given quite a few of us some bad long-term damage. And we're not expecting a change of heart coming from any of them."

"Sounds like these people really are nothing but trouble then," Ryo concluded. "We'll have to do our best to get all of your real friends together so you can fend off those pests. But for now, we'll need our rest tonight."

"Good idea," agreed Dumon as he and Star turned back to the door. "A good rest tonight will make for a good day's work tomorrow."


	5. Chapter 5

But Star couldn't sleep that night; she was too worried for Quinton. The Fearsome Four's return wasn't much help. Soon, she gave up trying to sleep and went to Quinton's apartment. Knowing she wouldn't let herself sleep until her soulmate was truly alright, Dumon watched her in worry. Star sat at Quinton's bedside, holding his hand and resting it on his chest as he breathed softly. Like his brothers, Quinton's coat was hung up on the nearby wall, with his shoes on the floor below; they were temporarily removed so that they would be comfortable. The lights were off, and the moonlight poured in through the open window.

"Chris," she began, using his real name. "I know you're as confused as I am as to how we ended up in this strange place. The people here don't even duel, they use enchanted tops they call beyblades; we were individually sealed in some of them. What's worse, the Fearsome Four are back, and probably want payback for what we did to them back home; some people here might even want to hurt us and our friends. The war and the death that came with it is supposed to be gone now." She leaned down to whisper into his ear. "I... I don't want any of us to die... not again. Especially... not you..." She broke down in tears, covering her face with her arm and laying it on the bed.

As she wept in silence, Star didn't notice that Quinton's hand was gently squeezing her own. The violet crystal of Star's wristlet and the blue jewel of Quinton's cuff were both glowing faintly. A tiny thread of Shadow energy connected the bracelets on the joined hands, no thicker than a few strands of hair. Star's power gradually flowed into her soulmate, slowly giving him the strength to open his eyes. He saw his saddened soulmate beside him, holding his hand. He carefully brought out his other hand, letting it roam through Star's midnight tresses.

 _I'm right here, Star,_ he thought softly. _I'm not going anywhere, my precious ghost. I remember as well as you do what happened during the war back home. Trust me, Star, none of us will ever leave you like that again;_ especially _not me._ Star had to have heard his waking thoughts, as she slowly lifted her head, revealing her familiar crystalline orbs to the moon. Quinton also sat up, his hand cupping her cheek. He frowned at the tears flowing from her left eye - a trait obtained from her infamous ancestor - and lightly brushed them away. He noticed her eyes flickering, and he could sense her exhaustion. Star must've been able to sense his curiosity towards it.

"It's the middle of the night, Chris," she mumbled quietly. "I was so worried about you when we found you, sprawled in that dark room with your brothers. Though the three of you are safe now, we're in a strange world nowhere near our home. I... I..." she trailed off, hiding her eyes. Quinton easily knew why Star was so distraught, even though he wasn't able to read minds like she can. He gently wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him, fingering the nine deep streaks on her back.

"Shh," he hushed, stroking her hair. He laid them both down on the bed, pulling the covers over them. "I understand, Star. You don't have to say anything more. Now get some rest; I can tell that you need it." He sweetly kissed Star's head and pulled her into his chest while the Phantom relaxed into his warmth. Star sighed softly as her eyes closed, and she fell peacefully asleep. Quinton smiled at Star's serene expression as she drifted off. He was able to remember when he and his brothers were found despite being rendered unable to open his eyes. After such an eventful day, he felt more than ready to get some proper rest. Holding Star as close as sleep would allow, he too fell fast asleep.

* * *

The next morning, the helicopter from the EU had landed on the roof of the WBBA HQ building. Cathy, Girag, and Alito had woken up earlier that morning to be with Dumon, Star, and Quinton. Trey and Quattro also seemed to recover just as quickly as their oldest brother, and were with the others on the roof. Some of the bladers were also up there. They watched as Sophie and Wales led out the familiar violet-aired boy and blue-haired girl from the chopper. Girag and Alito rushed up to greet them, clapping Shark on the back with delight despite the Shark-duelist's dislike of the gesture. Dumon gladly approached them, with Rio also patting him on the back in a friendly manner.

"Thank the God Cards you two are alright," Star smiled towards the twins. "But Shark, it would probably be better for the happy reunion without the old grudge coming up again."

"The Ghost Girl has a point," Quattro smirked, going up to Rio and Shark. "Come on, Shark; let's just let bygones be bygones."

"Quattro," Shark growled out in warning. Rio and Trey laughed in amusement.

"Very funny, Puppet Master," Star hissed, glowering at the Gimmick Puppet duelist.

"You're a lot like Kyoya," Kenta grinned, pointing at Shark. "Since you guys haven't met him, Kyoya definitely has your 'no-filter' attitude. And - Quattro, is it? -Kyoya also has the same kind of scar you have, but on both sides of his face."

"Ack! What's that light?!" Someone shouted from below as a bright flash came from the ground. The duelists suddenly heard three screams coming from the ground.

"No idea, bro," another voice replied. "But I think something's up with Gemios. It never stopped listening to us before."

 _Now that I think about it, Virgo wouldn't normally misbehave like this either,_ someone else on the ground thought. Star stiffened, recognizing the surfacing minds.

"I know those screams," Trey gasped.

"We all do, Trey," Quinton agreed. "Star, is it who we think it is?" The Phantom nodded, looking at the ground.

"Well, let's get down there and help them," Shark commanded.

"No," Star denied. "Just one or two of us and a duel monster. We don't need a convoy to help out a few friends. If they're in the same condition we were, they won't need any unnecessary protection." She took a card from her deck and held it upward. The card glowed for a second and vanished as a familiar violet dragoness materialized. Without a word, the Phantom mounted the dragoness and flew down toward where the light came from.


	6. Chapter 6

Star kept a close watch for the familiar minds of her friends that she sensed. She rode Yin into an alley and dismounted, making the dragoness disappear. She then walked towards where she saw the flash of light. Three boys were standing there, awestruck at the human boy and girl that exploded from their beyblades. Star could actually see three, but one of them had more of a ghostly appearance as he hovered above the other two, and thus the boys couldn't see him. Said ghostly person was the only one who was awake. One of the awestruck boys had long, gold-colored hair, and had the memories of a dancer in his mind. The other two were a pair of orange-haired identical twins; one dressed in red, the other in blue.

"Ah, so I was right," Star mused, getting the males' attention. "Now let me guess: your beyblades weren't listening to you, they charged each other headlong speed, a blindingly bright flash on contact, the beys stopped when the light dimmed, and those people were suddenly there."

"How did you know that?" the twins asked in unison.

"Let's just say it's been happening in quite a few places," Star replied. "I'll take care of these two. Go have your battle somewhere else, please." The twins nodded and took one of the beys, running off somewhere else. The gold-haired boy remained.

"You know them," he realized, "don't you?"

"Quite well, in fact," the Phantom replied. "Why do you hesitate? I said move along."

"But I'm curious. Do you know someone named Gingka?" inquired the male. The girl looked up at him and nodded. "Good. Any acquaintance of Gingka's is one of mine as well. My name is Teru."

"I'm Star," the Phantom replied as she stood up.

"Star!" Alito's voice called as he, the other duelists, and Gingka ran up to the girl in question. "You were starting to take too long. We were all starting to get worried and -" Alito cut himself off when he saw the unconscious pair against the wall, and the Astral being floating above them. "Yuma! Tori! Astral!" he exclaimed, running up to them.

"They're fine, Alito," Star notified. "Let's get them to safety."

"Teru! Long time, no see," Gingka greeted the blader in question.

"It has been a while, Gingka," Teru replied, shaking hands with the Pegasus blader.

"Enough talk," Rio ordered, clapping her hands. "Let's get Yuma and Tori out of this intersection. Astral, you can keep an eye on them until they wake up, okay?"

"Of course, Rio," Astral agreed, unbeknownst to the bladers. Alito and Trey hoisted Yuma to his feet and slung his arms over their shoulders; Cathy and Rio did the same with Tori.

"Did anything happen?" Quinton asked, approaching his soulmate.

Star shook her head. "No, nothing weird besides a couple of loud identical twins grabbing their top and scurrying off. The guy who had Tori in his beyblade didn't leave when I asked him to, though."

"Let's get back to the building," Trey suggested. "Looks like we'll have to explain about Astral. According to him, none of the bladers reacted to him."

* * *

" **What?!** " the bladers exclaimed all at once after the explanation. Star and the Arclight brothers winced from the noise and surge of fright. They were all pretty glad that the others were still keeping an eye on Yuma and Tori while bringing Astral up to speed on the issue.

"You're saying that there was a ghost with that Yuma guy at the intersection?" Kenta demanded. "And that they both came out of Dan and Reiki's Gemios?"

Star pressed her temple. "Yes, they did come out of the same beyblade. However, Astral isn't exactly a ghost. He's an interdimensional entity from a place called Astral World, and only those in our group can see him. He's also Yuma's Zexal twin."

"'Zexal'?" echoed Mr. Hagane.

"Zexal is a mysterious power revealed by a bond between two separate beings," Quinton explained. "Quattro has been suspicious that Star and I could do it for a while now."

"When the Zexal bond forms, it allows said two beings to combine their souls and become a single person," Trey added. "We all know plenty about it, since we've seen Yuma and Astral dueling in their Zexal Morph several times back home."

"So Zexal is an cosmic bond between distant souls," Dynamis concluded. "If Astral is as pure at heart as you say, than an imperfect human like Yuma makes the bond easy to form."

Star nodded. "That's right, Dynamis. You could say that Zexal is a power that personifies the phrase 'opposites attract.' And according to Astral himself, both he and Yuma would often find themselves arguing when they first met." She sensed mild amusement from the bladers' minds. "Anyway, now that we've found Astral, Yuma, and Tori, we only have a few people left to find."

"If Quattro did the head count correctly, we still need to find Kite, Mizar, and Vector," Quinton notified.

"My former-Barian buddy and the Galaxy-Eyes brothers," Quattro smirked. "Hopefully, no one else trailed us to this weird place."

"I'm pretty sure that it's just us," Trey frowned at his older brother.

Star's eyes widened at Quattro for a second before she sighed in exasperation. "Please tell me you did not just think that, Quattro," Star pleaded.

"Consider it 'wishful thinking,' Ghost Girl," the puppet duelist smirked at the Phantom.

"Uh... Does that mean what I think it means?" Madoka asked shakily.

Star sighed. "Yes. I know what people think. Quattro was thinking of a ridiculous prank that I believe you'd prefer not to come into fruition."

Mr. Hagane cleared his throat. "I'm sure you rather not go into details about your abilities, Star, and I respect that. And I believe that it would be best to find those last three friends of yours, considering that your enemies will likely be coming here tomorrow at the earliest. As a matter of fact, there has been some signs of unrecognized life back at the final resting place of some friends. I can send you there by helicopter to pick them up."


End file.
